


Sleep, Shiro. The World Will Wait.

by VenomousSecret



Series: Sheith Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuddles, M/M, SHEITH - Freeform, Sleep Deprivation, protective keith, space cookies are totally a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 13:24:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7316977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomousSecret/pseuds/VenomousSecret
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiro has been pushing himself too hard, but the paladins are so used to him always being there, how will he ever catch a break? Looks like Keith needs to do something about this.<br/>Basically just fluff. Originally posted on my tumblr keithxshiro.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleep, Shiro. The World Will Wait.

“Keith, I’m fine,” Shiro insisted, trying to wave off the red paladin. Keith wouldn’t have any of it.

“You aren’t.” Keith folded his arms, gaze set stubbornly. “You blacked out earlier, what if you’d been piloting?”

Keith had thought his heart would stop when Shiro had collapsed on the way to the dining hall. At first he’d thought maybe it was a bad flashback, though there hadn’t been anything obvious to trigger it. However, when he’d figured out Shiro had simply passed out from lack of sleep, Keith felt the need to do something. If only Shiro would just _listen._

Ignoring Shiro’s mumbling about the possible autopilot function in the lions, Keith pushed Shiro’s shoulder until he hit the edge of his bed, his knees folding underneath him in a testament to just how much he’d been pushing himself. It seemed like everyone else came first, even before his own rest.

_Stupid selfless too-nice-for-his-own-damn-good Shiro…_

“Sleep.” Keith left no room for argument, but even still caught some vague muttering about the others needing him. “I can handle them.”

He made sure Shiro was actually lying down, running a hand through his fringe until he closed his eyes and his breathing evened out, before heading out to the hall. The last thing they needed was Shiro finally getting some sleep and one of the others thinking they could just waltz in with their problems.

Keith switched off the motion sensor outside the door and leaned against it, intent on standing guard for as long as was needed.

 

* * *

 

Like clockwork, it couldn’t have been an Earth half hour before Pidge came bounding down the hall, laptop in their hands.

“Oh, hey Keith, you waiting for Shiro, too?” Pidge glanced around, as if expecting Shiro to walk around the corner at any time, while continuing to talk a mile a minute. “I need him to look over something, and—“

“No.” By the time Keith was able to answer Pidge’s first question, they’d already nearly finished another sentence, and once again Keith knew that hadn’t come across right… if for no other reason than the look on Pidge’s face. “Er, ‘no’, I’m not waiting for him. He’s asleep, you’ll just have to wait.”

The offense faded from Pidge’s expression. “Oh…” They whispered, regardless of how well the walls could block out sound. “Wait, seriously? He sleeps?”

Keith knew they meant it as a joke, but frowned all the same. “Not enough…”

Pidge simply shrugged, grinning mischievously. “He might get _more_ if you didn’t keep him so _busy_ … Anyway, guess I’ll be by later! See ya!”

“Wha-?” Keith would have gone after them to confirm just what they thought they meant by ‘busy’, but knew he needed to guard the door still. …He’d talk to Pidge later. No need to let rumors fester… whether there’s any truth to them or not. He leaned his head back against the door. At least one of them probably wouldn’t be by to interrupt again anytime soon.

 

* * *

 

Keith had nearly drifted off himself when footsteps drew near.

“Oh no, nuh uh!” Lance’s obnoxious voice filtered down the hallway, and Keith got the all too familiar urge to strangle him… or just tape his mouth shut. Did they _have_ duct tape up here?

“What do you want, Lance?” Most of the ire was missing from his voice, he’d almost resigned himself to Lance’s blabbing at this point.

“You and Shiro aren’t going to disappear to train _again_ today, it’s _my_ turn, and you’ll just—“

“Shiro’s asleep.” Keith frowned, stepping forward. He certainly wasn’t going to correct Lance on his and Shiro’s ‘training schedule’. “He doesn’t need you bothering him, and if your loudmouth wakes him, I’ll stitch it shut myself.”

“ _Loudmouth?_ I’ll show _you_ loud!” Lance took in a deep breath, and Keith barely had time to clamp a hand over his mouth. He was instantly grateful for the gloves he always wore.

Gritting his teeth, Keith knew if the argument continued, despite the castle’s natural sound suppressing walls, they were probably going to wake Shiro. …or he’d just somehow sense they were fighting… again. It looked like he was going to have to try to appeal to Lance’s better nature. Or at least not throw more fire onto the gasoline.

“ _When he gets up_ , I’ll let Shiro know you were looking for him.” If he didn’t happen to ‘forget’. “If _you_ wake him up, he’ll probably pass out in the middle of sparring.”

Keith watched his eyes for any indication that his words had sunk in and slowly removed his hand, wiping it on the side of his pants from where Lance had tried to _lick him_.

Lance’s face scrunched up, conflicted. There was the chance Keith was lying to him, but the look on his face meant he was probably serious. He wasn’t going to apologize though. Why would he? “Jeez, I didn’t know it’d gotten that bad…”

Having to intentionally suppress three comments that jumped to the front of his mind about Lance’s observation skills (or lack thereof), Keith took a calming breath, glancing to the side. Silence was better.

The lack of banter threw Lance for a loop, and he opened and shut his mouth a couple times before giving up, heading towards the observation deck to see if Allura was busy.

 

* * *

 

Keith sighed, sliding down the door when his legs began to feel stiff from standing in one place for so long. He folded his legs underneath him, counting to himself to fill the silence. The thought of wishing he’d brought something to read was brushed aside when he remembered that almost everything available was in Altean or Galran, neither of which he could make heads or tails of… yet.

He’d gotten up to 1305 (having lost count entirely a few times) when solid sounding steps approached, and he debated whether or not it would be worth standing, or if he should just stay where he was. Hunk didn’t give him much time to decide, making his way down the hall with a tray balanced in his hands.

“Shiro’s sleeping.” Keith remained where he was, pulling his legs close to his chest and resting his chin on his knees.

“Oh, I know.” Hunk kneeled down, sitting next to Keith and balancing the tray across his lap. “Pidge told me a few hours ago. You guys never did make it to lunch, so I thought I’d bring you something.”

“Oh… thanks.” Keith smiled, having resigned himself to ignoring the hunger in his gut until dinner or later (he’d gone without food for longer before) and accepted the plate of green goo.

He’d almost gotten used to the strange taste, and he supposed for a food that was basically their staple, it could have been worse. The ‘paladin meal’ Coran had tried to feed them jumped to the front of his mind. Yes, it could definitely have been worse.

“Yeah, man. Oh, and when Shiro gets up, would you have him try one of these?” Hunk took the cover off of the other dish, offering one of the disks to Keith to try. “It’s an _attempt_ at space cookies. Do you know how hard it is to replace flour? …and sugar.”

Keith hesitated, but tried a bite anyway. It didn’t taste like any cookie he’d tried before, but it wasn’t disgusting, either… sweet too. “…do I want to know what’s in these?”

“Probably not,” Hunk admitted. “But the sweet flavor is from some kind of fruit, you know, alien fruit, because if I could get a hold of some actual strawberries, there’s another thing I could try, and—“

Though the company was nice, Keith couldn’t stay focused on the conversation. He listened halfheartedly to Hunk continue on about the various uses of space foods they’d come across, willing to let him ramble so long as he kept his voice low enough that it wouldn’t disturb Shiro. He glanced back at the room, hoping he was getting some rest.

“You’re really worried about him, huh?”

Startling at Hunk’s comment, Keith looked over at him sheepishly. “Yeah, well… you don’t sleep and you get sick or hurt yourself. And even then he’d keep going and only make it worse…”

Hunk hummed in agreement. “Dude doesn’t know when to take a break.”

“No. He doesn’t. And if I go in there and he’s doing _push-ups_ again…” Keith wouldn’t admit to Hunk that it had been nice to watch the first time (okay fine, all the times after that too), and that yes, Shiro could keep going when Keith sat on him.

Hunk laughed, shaking his head.

* * *

 

A while after Hunk left to help Pidge with modifications for the lions, leaving the space cookies with Keith, the red paladin had nearly zoned out himself.

Keith found himself drifting, and startled to wakefulness when he nearly fell over. He shook his head, gathering up the plate and standing, hesitating just outside of the door. Allura and Coran surely wouldn’t need to bother Shiro for anything, right? And the others should keep their distance now unless something really bad happened…

After stretching as much as he could while holding something, Keith deactivated the lock on the door, entering quietly and setting the plate on the small table they’d dragged in to work as a night stand from another room in the castle. For a castle, the ship was minimalist to a ridiculous degree.

Once Keith was sure the door was locked behind him, he shed his jacket, looking over at Shiro’s still sleeping form. Good, none of that nonsense had woken him.

Kicking off his shoes (because apparently it wasn’t normal to sleep in those, ever), Keith sat gingerly on the side of the bed. He curled up beside Shiro, careful not to jostle him, but close enough to feel the warmth that always seemed to emanate from him. After all of that, _he_ certainly wasn’t going to be the one to wake him.

He’d almost fallen asleep himself when Shiro turned, his non-metal arm coming around his body and dragging Keith close with a sleepy mumble. Suddenly being used as a human teddy bear was enough to bring him back to wakefulness, but it wasn’t all bad… Breathing was a little harder, though.

Shifting just enough that he could get his face free of Shiro’s chest, Keith resigned himself to being stuck there for a while. Extracting himself would surely mean waking the black paladin, and who knew how long he’d need to sleep before he’d caught up. There were certainly worse places to get stuck.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come talk to me on tumblr if you want! Reviews are appreciated.


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